After more than 60 years, the actors and screenwriters in the USA are on strike together again for the first time.
(Photo: dpa)
san francisco Not only the scriptwriters but also the actors have been on strike in Hollywood since Friday. The first effects were already there: the actors boycotted the premiere party of the blockbuster “Oppenheimer” in London. Director Christopher Nolen told the disappointed local audience that they were now “painting cardboard signs for the demonstrations”.
Netflix or Amazon may soon no longer be releasing new series seasons. The punctual start of films is also in danger. Late-night talk shows have not been produced since early May due to the writers’ strike.
Instead, even more people are now marching in front of the headquarters of Netflix, Paramount and Warner Brothers. They try to convey an image of confidence, summer cheer and fighting spirit.
But a grueling struggle has probably only just begun, which is associated with financial losses and uncertainty for all sides.
The strike is not about a few percent increase in salary or longer lunch breaks. The unions fear that the use of artificial intelligence will mean fewer and fewer actors and screenwriters will be needed. AI developers have recently made great strides in both areas.
The actors have already lost through streaming
Unions now want to redefine industry’s entire pay structures while they still have the power to do so. They demand that the use of AI should follow clear rules, for example when it is used to write dialogues or when a virtual actor is created based on a human model.
To this end, rules for long-term remuneration of streaming series are to be drawn up. For series on TV, there is a fee for actors for each repetition. Even if a series is sold abroad, the actor benefits. As a result, they have an income even if they are not currently engaged.
Hollywood: Actors and screenwriters are on strike
With streaming, on the other hand, there is no concept of repetition. If a series is a success, the actors get little out of it. The union wants to change that.
The studios, on the other hand, now even want all the rights to digital counterparts of actors, even based on just one recording or even on existing material. The rights should apply for an unlimited period of time and without the obligation to make further payments, for example if new digital series are invented and filmed from the existing material.
Disneyboss lashes out at strikers
Both sides face each other uncompromisingly. Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger called the strike a “disgrace” and accused the cast of overrepresentation.
Fran Drescher, president of actors’ union SAG-AFTRA, said actors were victims of corporate ‘greed’. The majority of its 160,000 members are normal workers who are suddenly deprived of their livelihood. Often forgotten behind the high-earning Hollywood stars are these actors, who often only appear once or twice in a series.
As a result of the strike, make-up artists, hair stylists, costume designers and distributors, stagehands, drivers and assistant directors no longer have any jobs. You can only hope for an end – and not to be replaced by AI in the long term.
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